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Prosecutor asks for bond to be revoked in fatal accident

A prosecutor has asked that Wade O’Neil Hall’s bond in a fatal wreck be revoked because of a recent drug-related charge.

Assistant District Attorney Brian Deal said in a document filed in Effingham County Superior Court on Feb. 5 that Hall, 20, violated his bond when he committed the offense of possession and use of a drug-related object on Feb. 4.

A hearing on the request is set for Feb. 26, the same day motions are to be heard in the case concerning the fatal accident.

Hall is free on $27,700 bond in the fatal accident, which occurred on April 18, 2011. He pleaded not guilty on Jan. 29 to 14 counts stemming from the wreck that killed Joshua Klayton Stafford.

Hall and three other people in another vehicle were seriously injured in the accident, according to Hall’s attorney, Ray Smith of Richmond Hill.

Hall posted an additional $650 bond for the drug-related charge.

The Feb. 4 arrest was by Springfield police Cpl. Selton D. Morrow. Morrow said in a report that he was checking businesses at about 8:20 p.m. when he saw a red Honda Civic parked under the trees in the farthest and darkest part of the lot at the county library on Ga. 119.

He investigated and found a male with blonde hair slumped down in the driver’s seat of the car. The male, Wade Hall, told the officer that he was waiting on a friend to get off work from the recreation complex.

The officer said Hall had a bag with a substance in it, which read “Herbal Potpourri.” He also had two glass pipes and one metal pipe that had residue from synthetic marijuana or marijuana.

Springfield Police Chief Paul Wynn said additional charges may be pending in the case.

Meanwhile, Smith filed a motion on Feb. 7 to suppress blood evidence that the state is using to support a charge of drunken driving.

Smith asked the judge to exclude and suppress “any and all evidence obtained and seized by virtue of an illegal search and seizure.” He said the affidavit used to get a search warrant for Hall’s blood “provides absolutely no information which could reasonably lead to a finding of probable cause that the defendant had been drinking and driving.”

He quotes the affidavit as saying Hall “had a strong odor of alcohol about his person.” It said a beer can was observed in the car, as well as some cigarette papers and “what appeared to be a marijuana cigarette.”

“The odor of an alcoholic beverage alone is not sufficient probable cause under Georgia law to require a (blood) test,” Smith argued.

Smith also said that Hall’s blood was in four tubes when it left the hospital. When it arrived at the lab, it was in a sealed alcohol collection kit. There was no explanation about how the “medical blood” had been converted into “legal blood,” he said.

Either “the state illegally instructed Memorial (Hospital) to collect blood from Wade Hall at a time when it had numerous opportunities to administer Implied Consent and had not, and now attempts to cover its Constitutional violation with an after-acquired search warrant,” Smith said.

Or, Smith said, the blood was drawn so long after the alleged offense that it’s worthless in proving alcohol level.

He also said Hall was conscious, but was not told he could refuse the blood-alcohol test. “The law is clear that where a defendant is conscious, the Implied Consent Warning must be read,” Smith said.

Smith also wants to be able to conduct an independent analysis of the sample used in the case.

He asked the judge to suppress the blood evidence or dismiss all the charges against his client.

In the fatal wreck, Hall was arraigned on two counts of homicide by vehicle, first degree; six counts of serious injury by vehicle; and one count each of driving under the influence of alcohol less safe; driving under the influence of alcohol under age 21; exceeding maximum speed limits; reckless driving; following too closely; and weaving over roadway.